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Dessert

Fig Pudding

A steamed pudding made with figs, suet, molasses, flour, milk, spices, eggs, and baking soda.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Fig Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop and measure the suet.

  2. Cut the figs into small pieces.

Make the batter

  1. Combine figs, suet, molasses, flour, milk, and spices in a bowl.

  2. Dissolve baking soda in 1 tablespoon hot water and add to mixture.

  3. Fold in beaten eggs.

  4. Divide mixture into four well-greased 1-pound baking powder cans.

Steam and serve

  1. Steam in a steamer for 3 hours.

  2. Turn puddings onto a plate.

  3. Slice and serve hot with sauce.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Fig + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together614 recipes

    Shared aroma: cinnamyl acetate (sweet aromatic, cinnamon).

  3. Fig + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together510 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  4. Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Figs
Provide the main fruit flavor and moist, chewy body to the pudding.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich as it steams.
Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure as the pudding sets.
Baking soda
Reacts with the molasses acid to lighten the batter and help it rise.
Flour
Forms the structure that holds the pudding together.
Molasses
Adds dark sweetness, deep flavor, and moisture to the pudding.

The step that matters

Steam in a steamer for 3 hours. Steaming must be gentle and steady so the pudding cooks through evenly and stays moist. If the water boils dry or the steamer is left uncovered, the puddings can dry out or cook unevenly.

Swap the fig

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, nutmeg, molasses, flour, cinnamon):

  1. Raisinfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Figthe original
  4. Blueberryfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, nutmeg, molasses, flour, cinnamon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

More fig pudding recipes

Steamed 14Sauce 7English 3 See all 340 →

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